Timewise Test Prep – GRE Verbal Section Strategies Page 1 of 8

GRE Verbal Section: Analogies, Antonyms,

and Sentence Completion

About this document:

I have developed and refined these strategies through four years of teaching a GRE prep course. Some of them,
such as identifying the relationship types in Analogy questions, are similar to ones found in current best-selling
GRE prep books. However, my experimentation with them has led me to modify and extend them in unique ways.

The questions used as examples are from actual past GRE exams published by Educational Testing Service (ETS),
the makers of the GRE. This document is offered for exclusively educational purposes and may not be sold.

GRE Verbal Section Overview

30 questions – 30 minutes. Approximate breakdown:
6 Sentence Completion, 7 Analogy, 8 Reading Comprehension, 9 Antonym

Antonyms
Step 1: Make an antonym of the target word (the word in caps). What’s the opposite of BANAL?
interesting, exciting

Step 2: Eliminate obvious wrong answers

Unless you have absolutely no idea what the target word means, you can usually take out a few of the
answer choices. A 50% or even 33% chance is way better than the 20% chance of mere guessing.

BANAL: (A) faithful (B) arresting (C) inclined (D) forced (E) elaborate

Step 3: Make antonyms of remaining answer choices

Let’s say we were able to eliminate everything but (B) arresting and (E) elaborate. Which antonym of these
words matches most closely with the meaning of BANAL? An antonym of ‘arresting’ is ‘boring’; of
‘elaborate,’ the most accurate is ‘simple.’ Does BANAL mean ‘simple’? Something boring can be simple,
but it’s not necessarily so. Anwer: B.

Antonym Skills to Practice

1. Connotations can sometimes help you answer easier questions because they often contain positive
or negative charges.

For example, the prime word FALLACY has a negative connotation. So among your options,

(A) personal philosophy (C) unconfirmed theory (E) valid argument

(B) imaginative idea (D) tentative argument

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which one has the most positive connotation? Well, (A) is pretty neutral, (B) is somewhat positive, (C) is
slightly negative, (D) is neutral to negative, and (E) is positive. Your answer? E

On more difficult questions, it’s important that the degree of charge also match. For example,

LOLL:

You’ve heard of someone “lolling around the house.” Sounds like a slightly negative connotation. We’ll
mark it with a T for ‘Target’ word on this scale.

Antonym Connotation Scale

Negative Positive

Now, let’s determine the connotation charges of the other answer choices:
(A) comply readily - quite positive
(B) move vigorously - “move” is neutral, but “vigorously” has a somewhat positive charge
(C) describe exactly - pretty neutral / barely positive (“exactly”)
(D) notice incidentally - neutral
(E) insist strongly - could be either positive or negative; quite strong either way

Antonym Connotation Scale

E T D C CB A E

Negative Positive
The choice closest to the opposite in connotation charge, then, is B. Does it sound correct? Good.

Now look at this one:

VENERATION: (A) derision (B) blame (C) avoidance (D) ostracism (E) defiance

The connotation scale can help eliminate some answer choices on difficult questions, where all choices
have an opposite connotation charge from the prime word. However, sometimes you’re reduced to whether
you know the words’ meanings or not. Study vocabulary!
Answer: A

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Analogies
Step 1: Relate
LAWYER : COURTROOM ::
(A) participant : team (B) commuter : train
(C) gladiator : arena (D) senator : caucus
(E) patient : ward

What does a lawyer have to do with a courtroom? The answers must be strong, necessary, and often quite
specific. Give it a go.
_____________________________________________

Strong relationships are the result of answering specific questions about the meaning of each word. They include
words like “always” and “must.”

Weak relationships have words like “can” and “sometimes” and phrases like “I can see how” and “They’re both.”

Step 2: Plug the answer options into your “algebraic” equation:

“A lawyer does the work of arguing a client’s case in the physical space of a courtroom.”
becomes
“X does the work of arguing a client’s case in the physical space of a Y.”

What, then, is the answer to LAWYER : COURTROOM? (C) gladiator : arena

Adjusting the relationship:

JUDGE : GAVEL ::

(A) detective : uniform (B) doctor : stethoscope (C) referee : whistle

(D) soldier : insignia (E) lecturer : podium

If you found yourself creating the relationship, “A judge uses a gavel in his job,” you’ll get stuck between
B, C, and possibly E. So ask yourself what a judge does with that gavel. Keeps order in the court? Sounds
good:

“An X uses a Y to keep order in his court.” Answer? Obviously, C comes closest.

If you find yourself unable to explain away one of two final answer choices on an analogies problem,
adjust the relationship.

Example
1. CURIOSITY : KNOW ::
(A) temptation : conquer
(B) starvation : eat
(C) wanderlust : travel
(D) humor : laugh
(E) survival : live

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Three Analogy Skills to Practice

1. When Deciding between Two or Three Answer Choices, Reverse the Relationship. For example,
CURIOSITY : KNOW. If you establish “Curiosity is the desire to know” as the relationship, you still might
be stuck choosing between B, C, and E.
• Is the desire to eat called starvation?
• Is the desire to live called survival?

2. Eliminate Weak Answer Choices Right Away. You can eliminate answer choices that have weak
relationships without even knowing the prime pair:

(A) pervade : encompass (A) equivocate : directness

(B) search : find (B) elaborate : originality
(C) gather : win (C) boggle: imagination
(D) agree : keep (D) manipulate : repression
(E) accumulate : raise (E) coddle : permissiveness

In the first column, choices A, C, and D have no definable relationship between the word pairs. Choice B
could be phrased as “You search in order to find,” while E could be expressed, “To raise is one way to
accumulate” (money, for example, but it’s still stretching it a bit.

In the second column, choices B, C, and D represent weak or meaningless relationships. While C sounds
familiar, as in the phrase “it boggles the imagination,” there the words are being used together in a
sentence, which doesn’t create a relationship between them. The only true possibilities in column two are A
(“equivocate” is the opposite of “directness”) and E (to “coddle” a child is a sign of “permissiveness”).

3. Identify Relationship Types and Word-Class Combinations. The GRE people use essentially the same
types of relationships for all the analogies. This is helpful information because certain combinations of the
section’s three word classes (noun, verb, adjective) rely almost entirely on one or two relationship types.
Here are some common relationship types. Some test prep books mention 5 relationship types; others break
them down into 12 or even 16. In studying their distinctions, I don’t find the specificity worth the effort it
takes to remember them.

This is mainly because I don’t think you should approach an analogy problem by first trying to categorize
the relationship. Rather, first you should express the relationship in your own words. If you find that it fits
into one of these relationship types, it’s a sign that you’re most likely on the right track. However, since a
few analogy questions don’t fit into these four types—or any other prep book’s relationship types, for that
matter—it can throw you off if you don’t have practice with putting a relationship into your own words
first.

1. Purpose: X is used to make something Y happen.

STUDY : LEARN ANTIDOTE : POISON EPITHET : DISPARAGE
2. Degree: X is a better/worse/stronger/nicer/weaker form of Y.
MILK : EXTRACT USURY : INTEREST FRUGAL:MISERLY
3. Definition: X is defined by the absence or presence of Y.
BLUSH : EMBARRASSMENT COGENT : CONVINCE SURGEON : DEXTERITY

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4. Type: X is a type of Y. (This should always invite the question, what type of Y is it?)
EULOGY : PRAISE LULLABY : SONG GUST : WIND

A brief grammar review:

NOUN: person, place, or thing. Spectrum, witness, dehydration, verb

ADJECTIVE: modifies a noun. Mysterious, purple, conspicuous, chosen
VERB: whatever happens, happens because of a verb. Freeze, prevaricate, turn, is, seem

Here’s how the relationship types and word-class combinations combine:

N-N: by far the most common word-class combination. They can be any kind of relationship. **All Type
analogies are N-N, but not all N-N are type.

CURATOR : ART CORRAL : HORSES Type

LEVEE : RIVER TABLECLOTH: TABLE
DIE: SHAPING
N-N
N-V (V-N): mostly definition, also purpose.

EPITHET : DISPARAGE EMOLLIENT : SOOTHE DISABUSE : ERROR

N-A (A-N); V-A (A-V): almost always relationships of definition.

MERCURIAL : MOOD CHARY : CAUTION MERCENARY : MONEY

NUMB : INSENSIBLE IMPLACABLE : COMPROMISE APOLOGIZE : CONTRITE

V-V, A-A: almost always relationships of degree.

MILK : EXTRACT UPBRAID : REPROACH STUDY : LEARN

TROUBLED : DISTRAUGHT STYGIAN : DARK FRUGAL : MISERLY

1. EVANESCENT : DISAPPEAR 2. TRANSGRESSION : MORALITY 3. ASSERT : BELABOR

(A) transparent : penetrate
(B) onerous : struggle
(C) feckless : succeed
(D) illusory : exist
(E) pliant : yield
(A) mistake : probity (A) tend : fuss
(B) invitation : hospitality (B) refine : temper
(C) gift : generosity (C) describe : demean
(D) presumption : propriety (D) resemble : portray
(E) misconception : curiosity (E) contaminate : purge

—Answers and explanations on the next page—

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Answers

1. E. EVANESCENT essentially means “fleeting” or “vanishing.” Something evanescent, by definition, is

likely to DISAPPEAR. (It’s a relationship type of definition.) Hence your relationship is “Something X is
likely to Y.” Only (E) makes sense in this relationship. This one is scary because of the obscure words it
represents, but if you study your vocabulary, you’ll see that only two answer choices have actual
relationships. Besides E, your only other option is C: “feckless” means irresponsible, careless, and/or
feeble. Someone “feckless,” then, is not likely to “succeed.” That’s a true relationship, but it’s opposite to
the one we’re looking for.

2. D. What is a TRANSGRESSION? Why, it’s a breach in (violation of) MORALITY! If it were a breach
of the law, it wouldn’t be called a transgression, it would be called a crime. So: “X is a breach of Y.” (In
case you were wondering, it’s a relationship of definition.) The answer is D because “presumption” is a
word we use in English to signify a breach in “propriety.”

3. A. If you think that ASSERT and BELABOR mean the same thing, you’re right. This is a relationship of
degree. They can’t mean the same thing to the same degree, or there would be no relationship. In this case,
BELABORING is a more intense, annoying form of ASSERTION (it’s all right to change them from verbs
to nouns as long as you do the same thing to the words in the answer pairs you’re plugging in. So: “Y is a
more intense, annoying form of X.” You might be tempted with C, “describe” and “demean.” However,
“describe” is value-neutral, not negative, and you can’t have a more intense, annoying form of a behavior
with a neutral connotation.

4. Lastly, try this one out:

TROUBLED : DISTRAUGHT ::
(A) annoyed : disillusioned
(B) disturbed : interrupted
(C) covetous : rapacious
(D) outmoded : ostentatious
(E) tranquil : placid

There are two morals here. The most obvious one is to study vocabulary; the second is not to ignore an
answer choice with a word in it that you’ve never seen before. When I give this question to students, many
of them will completely ignore answer choice C (the correct one) because they don’t know what ‘rapacious’
means. They understand that TROUBLED and DISTRAUGHT are in a relationship of degree in which “Y
is a more severe instance of X,” but they don’t trust the process of elimination, which gets rid of every
other possibility, including tranquil : placid because those two words are essentially equal in degree.

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Sentence Completion
The motto for this section is Every word is a choice. Meaning, each sentence has all of the clues in it
necessary for you to fill the blanks correctly. The steps are:

1. Identify phrase and word clues

2. Try filling in the blanks in your own words first. If you can’t do it, check the answers and choose the one
that comes closest to what you would have wanted to say

Phrase and Word Clues

1. Watch for clue phrases:

A. Grammar. Be on the lookout for phrases that you could take out of the sentence and still leave
it grammatically correct. I’m simplifying here, but for GRE purposes this includes:
• Everything in between commas and in between a comma and a period
• All the words after a colon or a coordinating conjunction (semicolon or a comma followed
by and, but, yet, nor, or, for, and so)

For example, here is a GRE sentence completion pared down to a simple complete sentence:

Such diversity ----- the existence of a single Native American culture.

(A) complements (B) implies (C) reiterates (D) argues against (E) explains away

Impossible, right? But what if we added:

Before 1500, North America was inhabited by more than 300 cultural groups; such
diversity ----- the existence of a single Native American culture.

Still not convinced? Here’s the whole thing:

Before 1500, North America was inhabited by more than 300 cultural groups, each with
different customs, social structures, world views, and languages; such diversity ----- the
existence of a single Native American culture.

All that verbiage from ‘Before’ to ‘languages’ contrasts with the concept of ‘a single Native American
culture”; therefore, the answer choice will be a verb that expresses a rejection of such a concept. Answer:
D.

2. Watch for word clues:

A. Signposts
1. yet, but, although, instead, rather, however, nevertheless = reversal in thought
2. and, since, accordingly, moreover, thus, the colon : or semicolon ; = continuation in
thought
B. Pay close attention to all adjectives and adverbs! They are unnecessary words without which the
sentence could still function grammatically.
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C. Also, pay attention to the choice of nouns and verbs. Why did they choose a particular noun or
verb over another option that would still make sense?

Putting it all together:

Nonviolent demonstrations often create such tensions that a community that has constantly
refused to ---- its injustices is forced to correct them: the injustices can no longer be ----.

Step 1: Identify phrase and word clues

Clue phrases: “the injustices can no longer be ----.” (follows a colon)

Signposts: the colon means a continuation or reinforcing of the first part’s idea
Adjectives/Adverbs: Nonviolent, such, constantly, no longer
Noun/Verb choice: refused seems strong to me, especially with constantly. If I were on the city council, I
wouldn’t say we refused to correct our injustices; I’d say we declined to do it. Also, I wouldn’t call them
injustices, I’d call them misunderstandings or simply problems.

Step 2: Guess the blanks

I know the first blank is synonymous with correcting injustices. I’m going to say “acknowledge” or
“change.”

The speaker’s obvious disgust with the injustices lets me know he or she doesn’t want to deal with them
anymore. I’m going to say “tolerated.”

(A) acknowledge. .ignored (B) decrease. .verified (C) tolerate. .accepted

(D) address. .eliminated (E) explain. .discussed

Which one fits best? A!

Now it’s your turn:

Aalto, like other modernists, believed that form follows function; consequently, his furniture
designs asserted the ----- of human needs, and the furniture’s form was ----- human use.

Clue phrases: ________________________________________________________________

Signposts: ___________________________________________________________________
Adjectives/Adverbs: __________________________________________________________
Noun/Verb choice: ____________________________________________________________
Guess before looking at the answer choices: __________ __________

(A) universality . . refined by (B) importance. .relegated to (C) rationale. .emphasized by

(D) primacy. .determined by (E) variability. .reflected in
Answer: D

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